One Magical Day:  The ballad of Delphine Mellark
by misticalcookie
Summary: Written for Starvation's monthly prompt.  Delphine is having a bad week.  So her family comes up with a way to make her feel better.


Written for Starvation's monthly challenge. March's prompt is "Epic."

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**One Magical Day: The Ballad of Delphine Mellark**

The sun broke the edge of the world, sprinkling the sky with hues of the rainbow. Usually the sunrise would bring a smile to Delphine's face, she loved magical moments like that. Now nothing could make her smile.

For the past week, the only thing Delphine could do was lie in bed and cry. She grabbed another tissue and blew her nose. An empty carton of ice cream was lying on her nightstand, the spoon was somewhere on her bed.

"Hey hon," Katniss said as she rapped on Delphine's doorway. "Breakfast is ready downstairs."

"Not hungry," Delphine muttered as she turned onto her side so she couldn't see her mom.

"You haven't eaten in three days," Katniss said with a small sigh, it broke her heart to see her daughter like this.

"She's had three gallons of cookie dough ice cream," Finley chirped from next to his mother.

"That doesn't count."

"Go away," Delphine croaked.

"That's it," Katniss said, finally fed up with Delphine's behavior. "For seven days, all you have done is mope around, it's time for you to get up and move on."

Delphine turned and glared at her mother. Katniss strode into the room and dragged Delphine out of bed. Sometimes Delphine hated having a strong, stubborn mother.

"We're going to have some fun today," Katniss said as she dug through the piles of clean clothes on the ground and picked something out. She tossed the outfit at Delphine.

Delphine made a face at the blouse, "I don't like that one."

Katniss grinned, "good, that means you're caring about your appearance again."

Delphine rolled her eyes and took the blouse into the bathroom to change. She came back out a few moments later, "Happy?"

"Very," Katniss smiled at her oldest daughter, "now let's have breakfast together."

"Not hungry," Delphine pointed out.

"You're always hungry though," Finley countered, earning him a glimpse of Delphine's pink tongue.

Katniss sighed, _just another day in the Mellark house._

The three of them crowded around the table and two of them filled their plates. Delphine just stared at her mom and brother. She wasn't going to cave in. She wasn't hungry, and that was final.

"Fine, starve to death, see if I care," Katniss said as she finished her meal and placed the dirty dishes in the sink.

"I care," Finley chirped from his seat, "I like having an older sister."

Delphine didn't even crack a smile.

"Here," Katniss said, handing Delphine a piece of paper.

"What is it?" She asked, intrigued.

"Just read it," Katniss grabbed Finley and dragged him out of the house, leaving Delphine all alone, just the way she wanted it.

Delphine glanced down at the paper, _Delphine's Scavenger Hunt._ Delphine looked around to see if there were any hidden cameras.

"What is this? A joke?" She asked the empty room. She wasn't surprised when there was no answer.

She sighed and read the rest of the paper. It was, for all intents and purposes, a scavenger hunt. There were ten things for her to do, and boxes next to each one for her to check off as she did it.

It was her family's way of trying to get her to feel better. Delphine decided to just go along with it.

Number one on the list, _close your eyes for thirty seconds._

Well, that sounded easy. Delphine closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She chased away all of her thoughts while she stood there, all alone with her eyes closed.

_One Panem, two Panem, three Panem….twenty-eight Panem, twenty-nine Panem, thirty Panem._

She opened her eyes and looked around at the kitchen that she knew so well. There was the chair that she had fallen off of when she was three and ended up with five stitches in her forehead. There were the pots and pans that she would bang when she was bored and waiting for dinner.

She grabbed a pen and checked off number one.

Number two, _sing at the top of your lungs._

At least there was no one around her to laugh. Delphine couldn't carry a tune to save her life.

She belted out the first song that came to mind. _Life is a highway, I wanna ride it, all night long._

She smiled for the first time in days as she sang. It felt good to let it all out and not care again. She really was feeling like herself.

But then she remembered why she was so depressed.

Delphine pushed it from her mind and read number three, _take a walk._

Walking. Something she hadn't done in a week. Her legs were weak, but she pushed herself to go outside.

Delphine blinked rapidly in the bright light. The sun grazed her exposed skin. It felt good to feel the sun on her skin again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed it.

It was summer time, so everyone was out and about. Delphine lowered her eyes and didn't bother saying hi to those that she knew.

She found herself going down a familiar path. One that she had taken many times before to get to _his_ house. Her legs wouldn't stop, it was as if she was drawn to _his_ house. But she couldn't go down that road again.

Delphine forced herself to turn around. _He_ wasn't hers anymore. And it was time she got that through her head. As much as she hated that fact, it was the truth and it was time she accepted it.

Maybe her mom was right, maybe a week was plenty of time to get over her first love. But then she remembered the way _he _would say hi to her, the way her heart would thump widely at _his_ voice.

It wasn't good to dwell on the past, so she forced her eyes back to the list.

Number four, _find a butterfly._

She hadn't gone butterfly catching in years. It used to be a favorite past time of hers. She liked to collect caterpillars and watch them spin their cocoons and then emerge as a beautiful winged creature.

There was a place over in the old meadow where butterflies were abundant. So she headed there.

Sure enough, a beautiful monarch butterfly flapped around the flowers, enjoying the day. Delphine could learn a thing or two from it. The creature just seemed so alive and carefree.

A smile found its way to Delphine's face. And she ran through the meadow, skipping and laughing at the top of her lungs.

_He_ didn't matter. She didn't need _him_ to be happy. She could do it all on her own.

It was time for number five, _say "hi" to a stranger._

Delphine had never been as friendly as her little brother Finley. He just loved talking and saying hi to everyone. Not Delphine, she was more reserved.

She left the meadow and the butterfly.

The town was small, but it was familiar, and she loved the cobblestone paths, and the cute little stores.

A man was washing windows outside of the soap store. Delphine took a deep breath.

"Good afternoon," she said with a genuine smile.

He glanced at her in shock. "Well, good afternoon to you too," he replied.

"It's a nice day," she said, surprised at her boldness.

"Yes it is," he agreed.

"Have a good day," Delphine waved good bye and walked down the road, feeling good about herself.

Number six, _help someone in need._

Delphine didn't know of anyone who was in trouble, but she looked around and found an old woman hobbling down the street laden with bags.

So cliché, but Delphine offered to help anyway.

"Thanks sweetie, you're so kind," the lady said. Delphine walked the lady to a small cottage and helped put away the groceries. "You have a good heart," the lady said.

Delphine left the cottage, her smile refused to leave her face now. It felt as if the huge brick had been lifted. She could breathe again.

Number seven, _make a baby laugh._

The park was just a little ways away. Delphine headed there and stood on the hill as she watched the mothers play with their children. That used to be her, oh so long ago. She used to be the little girl in the sandbox eating the sand.

Delphine headed over to the benches and sat down next to a frayed young mother with a baby in her lap.

"She's adorable," Delphine said to the mother.

"Thanks."

Delphine made funny faces at the baby and was surprised when the baby began to giggle.

"You're a natural," the mother said.

"I have a little brother," Delphine said, feeling a pang of guilt for ignoring him for the past week. But she had been so depressed over her breakup with her first boyfriend that she had ignored everyone else in her life.

She said goodbye and left the park.

Number eight, _apologize to someone you wronged._

How appropriate. But she didn't know where her brother was. Probably out eating ice cream.

Apologizing was difficult for most people. Delphine was one of them. She hated admitting when she was wrong. But sometimes, one needed to swallow one's pride and say _I'm sorry._

She left that one unchecked, so much for doing the list in order. She would apologize to her family as soon as she saw them.

And on to number nine, _watch the sunset._

Delphine was shocked to see that it was getting late. She had spent all day on the scavenger hunt.

She went to her favorite hill and hunkered down, waiting for the sun. Delphine thought back on her day.

It had started so dreary and depressing. She had thought she was going to have yet another day of sleeping her life away. But instead, her mother had forced her to wake up and face the day.

And she had. Delphine had an amazing family. It didn't matter that her boyfriend had broken up with her anymore. Because at the end of the day, she was still going to go home to her parents and brother. The three people in the world who would love her unconditionally no matter what.

The sky was a palate of beautiful colors and Delphine was happy to be alive, with the last rays of the sun tickling her face.

Last but not least, number ten, _forgive and forget._

Check and check.

The world was an amazing place, she might not always be having a good day, but all she had to do was open her eyes and watch the sun rise, or follow the butterflies and make a baby laugh. There were so many good qualities about life.

Delphine felt so much better, and all it took was a day by herself traipsing about the town.

Her family was waiting for her at home.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she gave them big hugs.

Life was something that didn't happen more then once, and Delphine was going to make the most of the time that she had left. Starting with remembering her epic day where she realized that boys would come and go, but the sun would always rise again.

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